Turn in your Bibles this morning
to Psalm 68. Psalm 68. I'll begin reading in verse 15. The hill of God is as the hill
of Bashan. Now, I don't know very much about
Bashan, but from what I can read, it was associated as a high hill,
and there are various blessings associated with that hill. The
hill of God is as the high hill of Bashan, and high hill as the
hill of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desireth
to dwell in. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it
for ever. That hill is representative of
the church. The chariots of God are twenty
thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them as in
Sinai in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily
loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He that is our God is the God
of salvation, and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. Now, I know you've heard the
term blind faith. Blind faith. And if you stop and think about
it, all faith apart from the faith that we read about in the
Bible is actually blind faith. It is trust in that which cannot
be trusted. It is belief in that that really
we do not know, and so all faith apart from what we find in the
Bible, which is a God-given faith, is blind faith. But the faith
that is described as the faith of God's elect and that gift
of God by which we believe on Christ is a faith that has a
true object, and that object is outside of ourselves. The object of this faith that
God gives is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the object of that faith
is revealed in a very objective word and message that is outside
of ourselves and it is in the Word of God, the written Word
of God. And in this book, we find, first
of all, in the Old Testament especially, Jesus Christ, the
object of true faith, given in pictures and types and shadows. And one of those such types and
shadows was a man by the name of Joseph. And if you remember,
when Joseph was exalted from prison, he was exalted to the
throne of Egypt. Before that, he went down and
he suffered and he endured lies and false witnesses. But when
he went up, he went up out of that prison and he was exalted
to the throne. And when that happened, there
were many people who did not deserve it that benefited from
it. And this is what grace is all
about. Grace is for the undeserving. But here was Joseph raised up
from the prison house, raised up and exalted to the throne,
and the very ones who had persecuted him and put him there, they benefited. There were the Egyptians themselves
as a people. There was Pharaoh. There was
Potiphar and even Potiphar's wife who lied against him and
had him put in prison. And even his own brethren who
sold him into slavery and told his father that he was dead. But when you read in Genesis
45, Joseph says to his brethren after that, Come near to me,
I pray you. And they came near, and he said,
I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved,
nor angry with yourselves, that ye sow me hither, for God did
send me before you to preserve life." They put him down, they
left him for dead, they sold him into slavery, and others
cast him into prison, but God raised him up to the throne to
do them good. But not only do we have the Lord
Jesus Christ in type and shadow, But we have a clear message of
Jesus Christ who was himself despised and rejected and sold
into slavery and even put to death. He was definitely and
clearly slain by wicked hands and put to death, but he rose
from the dead. And not only did he rise from
the dead, but he also ascended into heaven. And this text has to do with
his ascension not only into heaven, but also to the very throne of
God. And this is what we read about
here, especially in verse 18, but he says also in Psalm 2 and
verse 6, he says, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of
Zion. I have set my king upon my holy
hill of Zion." And so we find that the one who is described
as the man of sorrows, that he took possession of the very throne
of glory as a man, but not for himself only. When he ascended to the throne,
when he entered into that high heaven again of God, he did so
as a man. And like Joseph, the purpose
of God was not only to exalt him, but to exalt a people in
him. And so his exaltation is the
source of all the happiness and all the blessing and all the
salvation to these who once acted like his very enemies and were
described as rebellious against him. It is for that people that
he lived and died, and now it is for their very sakes that
he lives and reigns. Brother Bird's hymn was very
appropriate in light of this text, because he not only fought
and conquered and triumphed over his enemies, but he did likewise
to their enemies. And it says here that as the
representative of this Zion, of these people that make up
his body, the church, he received gifts to be bestowed upon them. He received as their representative
these gifts which were much needed by them, and gifts that He alone
can give. You see, this exaltation that
is being spoken about here in verse 18, where He says, Thou
hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast
received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that
the Lord God might dwell among them." He ascended back into glory. He ascended what is described
here as the high hill of God. He ascended as the head of the
church, which is His body, that He might receive gifts for them,
which He describes here as gifts for the rebellious. It is the ascended Lord that
is spoken of here, and likewise, the same One who is described
in Psalm 24. Turn back to Psalm 24. Here in Psalm 24, we have a description
of One who must be the Lord Jesus Christ, But even as we read this,
we find in these words not only a description of him, but the
inclusion of all his people who are in him. And this is a glorious psalm. He says, the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein,
for he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon
the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place?" Now this
description on the one hand, can only fit Christ Himself. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully. That can only apply exactly to
the Lord Jesus Christ but it applies spiritually to all those
who are in him who are being saved by him from their sins. Now listen in the next verse. He shall receive blessing from
the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation. There is just one generation. There is just one seed, or people,
that are in Christ. And this is the generation of
them that seek Him, that seek His face, O Jacob. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory. shall come in." Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty? The Lord mighty in battle? Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory." In
other words, the picture and description here is that the
doors of heaven, that the doors of God, they will only open,
he can only receive this One who is described as the King
of glory. And here is this king of glory
who has wrought a glorious victory, who has successfully saved his
people and conquered all of his and their enemies. And so he
enters in, not only as the conquering king, but he enters in with the
spoils of his victory. And the spoils of his victory,
these gifts that he has received and gotten because of his accomplishment,
they are gifts not for him, but for his people. And Paul makes us to know that
this is exactly who that God is talking about in Psalm 68
because He quotes it in Ephesians chapter 4. Turn over to Ephesians
chapter 4. In Ephesians 4, He says in verse
7, But unto every one of us, and He is talking here about
believers. He is talking about those he
describes in the entrance of this epistle as those chosen
of God and blessed with all blessings in Christ and accepted in Him. He says, but unto every one of
us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore, he saith, When he
ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things." This is the Lord Jesus Christ, not only who was
crucified, not only who rose from the dead, but because of
his own power and success and his person as the God-man, he
entered in as the King of glory back to the right hand of the
majesty on high. And when the apostle writes in
Hebrews 9, this is what he says, For Christ, is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
truth, but into heaven itself." He ascended and he entered back
into heaven itself as a man. He says, now, to appear in the
presence of God for us. He appears now in the presence
of God for us. He is highly exalted to the throne
of glory, and in Him it becomes to us the throne of grace. And from His throne comes every
gift of grace to those who believe on Him. And though they have
nothing of themselves, and they are totally unworthy in themselves,
it says that He is not ashamed to call them His own. He's not ashamed to call those
people that He has redeemed by His blood, His brethren. And He assures them that all
He did and that all He has received, so far as they are capable in
sharing in, it is for them. You see, because God did first
something for Himself, He now does these things for His people. Now, what does it say that He
did? Well, God the Spirit says of
Jesus Christ the Son, Thou hast ascended on high." Now, I want
you to think about that. No other man ever did this. You see, the Bible says that
Enoch was translated by God, and it says also that Elijah
was carried up into heaven by a whirlwind, but Jesus Christ
ascended on high. He ascended as a man to the highest
place and to the most glorious throne of all eternity, that
one that is described as the throne of glory." What does it mean, glory? Well, it means that that which
is true about the One who sits there and who ascends there is
now made manifest for who He is. In other words, when He was
laying there in the manger, it did not appear what He was. When
He was walking in the carpenter's shop, or walking as a man on
the side of the Sea of Galilee, or any of these things, and especially
when He was hanging on that cross, it did not appear who He was and what He was. But now he has ascended to the
throne of glory. And this is what we read in John
3. He says, And no man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. The only one
who has ascended back into heaven is the one who first came down
from heaven, and this is what he says, even the Son of Man
which is in heaven. In Acts 2, Peter reminded those
Jews, first of all, For David is not ascended into the heavens,
but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on
my right hand." Would you suppose that from such
a high and lofty and favored position, he'd be able to do
anything for you or me? Would you suppose that being
seated there on the throne of glory, as that one most highly
favored and viewed by God the Father Himself as His well-beloved
Son, that he would be able to do something for us when it says
that God has made us accepted into the love. When I read that Ephesians 2,
those few verses, I read it so hopefully you might have seen
that it says Not only that He has made us alive spiritually,
but when Christ rose from the dead and ascended on high, it
says that God in Him seated us in the heavenlies. In the heavenlies
in Christ Jesus. And so sure of it was it in this
Psalm 68 that God spoke of it in the past tense. Thou hast
ascended on high. And this is most excellent news
for us since we fell to the lowest depths in Adam and lost everything
and were shut out of God's presence. And God would no longer dwell
with man because of sin. But the very first promise that
he gave in Genesis 3, 15 was that our defeat would be reversed
by the wisdom and power of God in the second Adam. He said, though all in Adam die,
all who are in Christ Jesus will be made alive again. And when he had finished all
that was appointed to him as the head and the representative
of his people, he ascended on high and opened the kingdom of
heaven to each one of them he died for. And this is the proof
that God accepted his work. that God will give to His people
every blessing that He gave to them in Him, because He has ascended
to the right hand of the Majesty on high, having finished the
work and sat down. And Paul said, He hath raised
us, the one who was delivered for our offenses, was raised
because of our justification, and his ascension assures that
all his servants will follow him." I like a verse that is
in John 17. He said, Father, I will that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world." I will. Men talk about free will. But God talks about His will. And Christ says, I will, Father,
that they which You have given Me be with Me where I am. And He has ascended on high. This is the glory and this is
the exaltation of Jesus Christ as the God-Man Redeemer. Alright? Here's the second thing
he says. Thou hast led captivity captive. Not only did he ascend on high,
but this is also attributed to him, that he has led captivity
captive. On the one hand, he has conquered
and triumphed over all the powers which held his people in captivity,
so that captivity itself is taken captive. You remember what the Jews said?
They said to Christ, we were never in bondage to any man. When in truth, they were at that
very moment in bondage to the Romans and who knows whatever
else they might have been in bondage to. But every one of
us, every one of the Lord's people are in bondage, or rather were
in bondage lest they be delivered by Christ Himself. Who were we the captives of?
Well, the Bible shows us that we were the captives of Satan
and all the powers of darkness. That's right. Paul said to young
Timothy, he said that the servant of God must be gentle, must not
strive, must be apt to teach, that he must deal with men without
railing on men, without any sense of superiority over them. that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him
at his will." They are taken captive by him,
and where is helpless free will? They are taken captive by him
at his will. Paul says concerning Christ,
writing to the Colossians, it says of Christ, having spoiled
principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in His cross. Luke describes it in this way. He says of this man who is bound, he has a strong man binding him. That's the picture that God gives
of us as sinners being held fast by the devil. He says we're like
this house that a strong man has bound. But he says, when
a stronger than he shall come upon him, That's right, there's one stronger
than the devil. When a stronger than he shall
come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor
wherein he trusted, and he divides his spoils. He saves them. He saves His people
because He is able to deliver that one who's captive, held
so by Him, by His greater strength, because He's His own. In Hebrews
it says, for as much then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same,
that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil. He led captivity captive. Not only that. but even death
itself. Paul said, so when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that
is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Whose victory? Not ours, but Christ's. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He delivers His people from the
very captivity and bondage of death itself, and not only death,
but the fear of it. He says in Hebrews 2 that He
delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage. They don't even realize it, but
they live In the fear of death, and not just what he says about
death itself, but he says, though it's appointed unto man once
to die, and after this, the judgment. And then he also delivers from
sin. Paul says, for sin shall not
have dominion over you. You are not under the law, but
under grace. Where? In the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only that, but under
the law and justice of God. But in Christ we are delivered,
he says, but now we are delivered from the law that being dead
wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit
and not in the oldness of the leather. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on the tree. One day the Lord Jesus Christ
stood in the synagogue at Nazareth. And he read that portion out
of Isaiah and he said, these words are fulfilled in your very
hearing this day. What were they? The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance. to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." He not only ascended on high,
but he also led captivity captive. He brought under him as the God-man
this dominion. over all things, and set his
people free." If the Son shall make you free, you'll be free
indeed. And then, here's another thing.
He says, "...and thou hast received gifts, even for the rebellious." Now, redemption Contrary to what
some people try to say, redemption is not Christ buying gifts for
us. Redemption is Christ redeeming
us and putting us by that redemption into such a position and condition
that we might receive those gifts that are freely given unto us
by God. What did he do? He received these
gifts because he's the only one who could. But when he received
these gifts, he received these gifts in himself as the head
of a people who are in themselves described even as the rebellious. Because to receive and bestow
gifts on rebels is mercy and grace. That's what we are in ourselves,
rebellious. Rebellious, acting as enemies
toward God, acting as those estranged from God, rebels against His
authority and His rule, Rebels against His Son, who we are commanded
to believe on. Rebels to His righteousness,
having not submitted ourselves to it and going about to establish
our own. Rebels against His very messengers,
that prophet or preacher that He sent. Rebels to the message
of grace, offering our own human works. Rebels against Him. You say, well, I'm not like that,
preacher. I'm afraid there's no gift for you then. You see, when we're brought to
acknowledge what we are before God, we find out that we are
not what we think we are, and we're not what mom and daddy
and everybody else says that we are. We are what God says
that we are. Rebellious. And it is the greatest mercy
for him to receive and give gifts to the rebellious. Listen to how God characterizes
us as sinners. He describes us as having a neck
of iron. You ever reach hold of a young,
toddling child Just take their hand to take them and feed them
or take them and do them good. Just take their hand. He just
stiffened up. He describes us as having a brow
of brass. As having a heart of stone. As being stiff-necked. But he gives to such gifts. Now, Jesus Christ is described
himself as that unspeakable gift. But he as the gift, the gift
of God, he as the gift receives gifts for these rebellious children. What are they? Well, he gives
to them the gift of eternal life. Jesus said to that woman that
stood by the well, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is
that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. What is that living water? Eternal
life. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And not only that, but He gives
to His people and receives for them the very gift of righteousness. Let me read this to you out of
Romans chapter 5. He says, for if by one man's
offense death reign by one, much more they which receive abundance
of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. He gives not only the gift of
righteousness, He even gives the gift of faith, that true
faith that I spoke about. He says, for by grace are ye
saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it's what? The
gift of God. He gives the gift of repentance. You remember I read He says that
the man of God must be in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth. And He gives to His people, people. That's right. He describes where
we read there in Ephesians 2, or rather Ephesians 4. He gives
to his people these gifts described in this way. And he gave some
apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastor-teachers,
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ." He gives gifts to the rebellious. He gives to them eternal life. He gives to them Himself. He
gives to them faith. He gives to them righteousness.
He gives to them repentance. He gives to them a new covenant
heart. He gives to them even these that
He sends to tell them what He has given them. Isn't that something? He gives
to His rebellious people all these gifts. And He does so, though they could
never earn them, though they do not deserve them, nor do they
merit them. He gives them these gifts freely
of His grace, and nobody can stop Him because He does so from
His throne as this ascended King. I'll turn back to Psalm 68 just
for a moment. Why? What's his objective in this?
Why did Christ ascend up on high back into the very presence of
God as a man? Why does he, as that one seated
on the right hand of the majesty on high, as one who's led captivity
captive and received gifts for these rebellious ones, why does
he give these gifts and do all this work? Verse 18, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. You say, well, why in the world
would God want to go through all that for such as these that
He might dwell among them? Because He loved them, and He
chose them, and He sent His Son to die for them, and they're
going to be with Him where He is. He's going to dwell. It doesn't
just say they're going to dwell with Him, though that's surely
the case. But He said that they might dwell,
that He might dwell among them. Not just visit them, nor them
visit Him, but God being who He is, and man being created
for God for some reason. And it is a
reason known only to Himself. He has desired. the fellowship
of these people that He has created for Himself. Not only are they going to dwell
with Him, He's going to dwell among them. He dwells, first
of all, in Christ in their hearts by faith. Christ in you, he says,
is the very hope of glory. But God has said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. So that even now, even while they are yet in this
world, He dwells with He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name, where two or three shall have
been gathered together in my name, there I'll be in the midst
also. Way back in Isaiah, he says,
For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose
name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with Him
also, that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the
spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. We've been nothing but rebels. But Christ came into this world,
Son of the Father, to do His will, and this is His will. that of all these that the Father
gave Him, He should lose nothing, but should raise them up at the
last day, when they will, every one, finally, and gloriously,
and eternally dwell in His presence forever, and He in the midst
of them. And so he says in verse 19, Bless
be the Lord who daily loatheth us with benefits, even the God
of our salvation. He that is our God is the God
of salvation, and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. He has ascended on high, bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh. Ascended up on high in our humanity,
sin excluded. So that when Stephen was being
stoned, and the Lord opened heaven to where he could look into heaven,
what did he see? He saw the Lord Jesus Christ,
the God-man. He has ascended on high. But he led captivity captive. And he received gifts. even for
the rebellious, that the Lord, the Lord God, might dwell among
them. That means everything that's
necessary for God to dwell with us and us with Him is in our
representative, the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us to look to Him,
trust only Him, because one day we're going to meet Him either
as His people seated with Him or as the judge before whom we
stand, simply to have that sentence passed upon us. Nothing to be
decided in that hour. We're a little bit in ourselves
without Christ. We're like Bernie Madoff. June comes, he gets the sentence
passed on him, but he's already in jail, and he ain't getting
out. All that judge will do in that
hour is say, you're sentenced probably for the rest of your
days. And all that Christ the Judge
will say to those outside of Him, those who know not His grace
and mercy in Christ, He'll say, Depart from Me, I never knew
you, ye that work iniquity for eternity. I'm not calling upon you this
morning to look at some fellow who's walking around in sandals
and a robe. I'm calling upon you to look
to the one who is seated at the right hand of the majesty on
high, and trust him for all that he's
done. Father, this day we give you
praise and glory, and we do thank you that based
on your word based on this objective standard
that you have given, your written Spirit-inspired Word, that we
can rejoice that our God is the God of salvation. That our salvation is altogether
in that one appointed Savior Your Son, who is now seated,
ascended on the right hand of the Majesty on High, who as the
Sovereign Lord and King, gives gifts Lord, grant to these heroes
and to my own self faith, repentance, righteousness, eternal life,
every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. We confess ourselves
as nothing but rebels. Pray that you'd bring us to be
your children and your servants. that you might dwell amongst
us, and that we might dwell with you. We thank you for such grace,
and we pray that all glory and honor might be to you alone.
For we ask it in Christ's name. Amen.